Black and Violet 1923

Wassily Kandinsky made this abstract painting called Black and Violet with oil on canvas. I imagine Kandinsky working on this, pushing paint around, trying to make these geometric forms float and sing. The shapes—the black circle, the violet square—they’re like characters in a play, right? They have a certain drama. He must have built up the painting, slowly layering the colors to create a sense of depth and movement. I wonder what he was thinking when he added those sharp lines radiating out like sunbeams. What feelings was he trying to evoke? There is a conversation with earlier avant-garde painters who were simplifying and abstracting form. Kandinsky takes it further, though, pushing beyond representation and using color and shape to communicate pure emotion. And that circle… isn’t it like a face staring back at us? It reminds me that painting is a kind of magic, isn’t it?